Government-Backed 'Day of Hate' In Tehran

A government-sponsored
demonstration being held in Tehran's Enghelab Square is providing regime
supporters the opportunity to counter opposition activists, who this week staged
their first sizeable street protests in months. Similar rallies are also taking
place in other Iranian cities, state television reported.

Worshippers called for the death of
opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi

Iranian authorities earlier appealed to supporters to stage
anti-opposition rallies and "scream out their hatred, wrath, and disgust"
against what they called "sedition" leaders.

Iranian state TV showed large crowds moving toward the square immediately after
Friday prayers. Men and women were shown carrying placards and portraits of
supreme leaders past and present, and chanting slogans against the United States
and Israel.

Iranian state television aired live interviews with protesters
who accused the two main leaders of the opposition Green movement, Mir Hossein
Musavi and Mehdi Karrubi, of responsibility for all deaths and bloodshed in Iran
in the past two years.

Calls For Execution

Protesters also demanded Musavi and Karrubi, who are now reportedly under house
arrest, to be executed.

Representatives of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomenei and mosque imams in
different provinces joined calls to punish Musavi and Karrubi following the
antigovernment protest on February 14.

Two students were killed in the course of that demonstration, and many more
injured.

Opposition activists and students say the two men, Mohammad
Mokhtari, 22, and Sane'e Jaleh, 27, were shot dead by security forces. State
media, however, claim Jaleh was a loyal member of the Basij volunteer militia,
and that he was killed by opposition protesters. Opposition activists have
denied the claim and accused authorities of "hijacking" their martyr.

Iranian parliamentarians on February 15 demanded Musavi and Karrubi be
prosecuted and face execution by hanging for their roles in organizing rallies.

The state Prosecutor-General's Office has said the judiciary will "firmly and
swiftly" deal with those behind the antigovernment protests.

The chief of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, said
this week that the body is taking steps against Musavi and Karrubi. Larijani
said the judiciary -- while taking "Islamic compassion" into consideration --
"will not tolerate acts that intend to harm the Islamic establishment."

Defying all the pressure, opposition leaders have called for fresh street
protests on February 20.